The present disclosure relates generally to suspension components on vehicles. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a shock absorber with an external, on-the-fly adjuster to vary damping of a suspension for use on a bicycle.
For many cyclists, it is important to be able to vary the rate at which the front fork of the bicycle compresses when it hits an obstacle. Some cyclists prefer a stiffer feel, while others prefer a softer feel. Still others have differing preferences depending on the particular terrain and objects likely to be encountered in an off-road context.
Shock absorbers that support the weight of the vehicle with compressed gas or another compressible gas instead of coil or leaf springs may be attractive for applications where the weight of components must be kept as low as possible. Moreover, gas spring shocks may allow for convenient adjustability of the spring rate of the suspension, in some cases by increasing or decreasing the volume of gas within the shock.
In many conventional devices, an air spring is commonly used in conjunction with a damping device to control compression and rebound, at least in part. The damping device conventionally controls damping by controlling the flow of a substantially incompressible fluid. Making changes to the damping characteristics of the damping device, particularly during a ride, may be complicated. Further, such adjustments are often only useful to change the damping characteristics over a certain range of travel of the fork, while leaving the damping characteristics at other ranges of travel unaffected.
The need therefore exists for a shock absorber that allows a rider to adjust the damping rate by controlling the flow of a compressible gas within a fork. Using such a system, a rider can adjust the ride feel on the fly.